two week review of Apple's 16gb iPad with wifi

Its been about 2 weeks since I bought my 16gb iPad with wifi from a local Best Buy. Lets cut to the chase: am I disappointed that I bit too soon? nope.

If I was going to buy another 'computer', I'd wait a couple of months after its been released, and I waited 6 weeks to see what manufacturers would bring out. During that time, Samsung announced the Galaxy Tab, a 7" tablet running Android, and Microsoft and HP both denied they were jumping into the tablet game until some spy shots of the HP Slate surfaced, and was finally revealed earlier this week. I know Apple wasn't technically first to this tablet game - they were first to make it usable without no pens - it's kind of like a giant iPod Touch, with a little computer mixed into it. However, with its little RAM (256mb) I doubt multitasking with it on the upcoming 4.2 OS will be easy.

I personally used an Android phone (Android 1.6 on Tmobile's Mytouch 3G) and it brought a lot to the table (multitasking, an awesome notification bar and widgets in multiple home screens) but as time passed, different android flavors came out and my phone just sat there with its old 1.6 OS, until Tmobile announced that it'd upgrade to Froyo - which I'm still waiting for. Google's multiple phones deal is good in theory, but like what it's experiencing now, how will it deal with fragmentation? Very, very slowly. I'm not putting down Android, as it did come out with a few good things before Apple did, but it has to start dealing with these updates or else it'll kill itself. Yes, Apple did something similar by releasing a new OS version which wasn't compatible with older models, but I think it was their way of telling people to spend money. Crude, but they are a business.

Since I bought my iPad with a combination of birthday money, hard work, and selling of my previously useless Flatpad, I was only able to get the 16gb wifi-only version. If I sprung for the 32gb, only then maybe I would have able to stuff what's left of my music collection that isn't from Zune Pass onto my iPad. But since I actually like new music and hate paying for individual tracks and CDs, I don't have that much music, nor movies - but I do have a ton of photos on it - some transferred from the iPad camera connectivity kit.

Speaking of money, I know Apple loves their accessories - I bought their cover to protect my purchase. And I bought their camera connectivity kit also. And a new cover, and not to mention a few of their apps. Oh, and to connect everything, I even signed up for Clear Internet Service for on-the-go internet. Yep, I have another thing to pay monthly. Sigh.

So, it has its pros and cons. Its bigger than a mobile phone, so it requires its own bag (my netbook shoulder bag) but its smaller than a laptop. It can have a ton of accessories and apps, and next year, there will be a 'new and improved' model. Ah, the joys of buying Apple products.